Agreed. I think we're seeing now how potent the "big 3" of LBJ, D-Flop, and Bosh really can be not so much in terms of their output, but in how focusing on them opens up the role players. They can't let Battier hit 4 open threes per game.
Still, in the first half the Thunder were simply missing shots like there was a lid on the basket. Missed shots that the Thunder normally would make lead to transition and create extra possessions for the Heat, and it only takes a few of these to turn the tide of a game. In spite of that, they were only one questionable call (James fouled Durant) from overtime last night. Interesting series for sure. My only hope is that the refs continue to let the players decide the games. Durant didn't get the call last night, which is OK as long as there isn't an onslaught of homer flop calls in Miama next week. Just be consistent.
And Jeff Van Gundy: quit complimenting players on drawing fouls by creating contact. No matter who does it, it detracts from the game. If you head fake a player into the air, you should be able to go straight up and shoot. You should NOT be able to lean into the airborne player, throw up a meaningless hail mary that you never expected to go in, and flop. That's not basketball, that's theater. To turn this on the Thunder, the one rule about extending the arms and swinging them under a defender and flailing for a call has been changed in what they are now calling the "Durant rule". GOOD FOR THAT RULE CHANGE. That was a bogus strategy, and Durant's too good a player to need to resort to that. Next, let's get rid of the "fake & flop" play in the same way. It sucks the life and integrity out of the game. The refs should be able to make a call on whether the offensive player was trying harder to draw a foul than make a shot. Yeah, it's a judgement call, but everybody knows what is meant by it. That alone would clean up the game A LOT. And when I say this, I freely admit that Hard-Flop is every bit as bad as D-Flop about this.
